Powell teacher and coach responds to accusations

POWELL, Tenn. (WVLT) - A Knox County football coach and teacher takes full responsibilities of testing irregularities during an exam at Powell High School.

In a written statement, Powell Head Coach Derek Rang explains why he left students unattended in the middle of an exam.

He simply said that he had a sudden urge to go to the bathroom, and had to go.

But, he says his mistake was not calling to have someone stay in the classroom while he left the room unattended.

When he was in the classroom, he admitted to having a copy of the test out, which is also against Knox County Schools rules.

Coach Rang says he had been looking over content from the test the students were taking. In his statement with the Knox County Schools' Discipline Investigator, he wrote:

"I was extremely bored sitting in a room for 1.5 hours with nothing to do but watch students take a test, so I wanted to make time pass by looking over and working problems from the test."

But he emphatically denied helping the students during the exam. Coach Rang wrote:

"In no way, shape, form, or fashion did students receive any inside information from Mr. Derek Rang about test content, answers, or procedure on how to do the test. All students in the classroom will verify the claim 100%."

Rang was put on paid administrative leave last week.

He just finished his first season as head coach of the Powell Panthers. The team made it to the state semi-finals.

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